Basketball Wives: LA star Brandi Maxiell confirmed her return to Season 5 amid rumors that Shaunie O’Neal had fired her on the hit VH1 series. O’Neal, who is also the executive producer of the reality show, earlier hinted Maxiell’s departure following their heated confrontation in the Season 4 finale.

In an interview with Radar Online, Brandi Maxiell revealed that they had just finished filming Basketball Wives: LA Season 5. The reality star admitted that it had been difficult seeing everyone again after what happened in Season 4. She shared that things got really intense to the point that she still had a headache a month after filming. Fans can clearly expect more drama coming their way when Basketball Wives: LA returns later this year.

Basketball Wives: LA Season 4 ended with a bang, as it highlighted the vicious fight between Brandi Maxiell and Shaunie O’Neal, Shaquille’s ex-wife. According to International Business Times, Maxiell and O’Neal got into a huge argument after the former accused the show’s executive producer of looking down on their group, the L.A. girls. The conversation got extremely heated that Maxiell ended up calling O’Neal, a “b***h.”

Later in the episode, Brandi Maxiell admitted that she might have gone a little too far. After all, Shaunie O’Neal is still her boss and the executive producer of Basketball Wives: LA. Months after the Season 4 finale aired, Brandi seemed to have had a change of heart. While she respected Shaunie and everything she had done for the series, Brandi held that she is not one to back down from a fight. She added that Basketball Wives fans knew her as someone who speaks her mind. Brandi argued that the fans love her because she always keep it real.

“I’m a Southern belle. We aren’t too shy of how we feel and what we think. You either love us or you hate us. We are big bright sunshine. So full of life. If you piss us off, we’re a whole other different person.”

Shaunie may have changed her mind about firing Brandi. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Mehgan James. On her official Twitter account, the former Bad Girls Club star confirmed that she will not be returning to Basketball Wives: LA Season 5. However, she revealed that she will be working on a new project starting June, so she will not be out of the limelight for too long.

Back in 2012, Shaunie O’Neal told The Insider that she was also thinking of leaving Basketball Wives because it had gotten to a level where the cast was getting out of control. She held that the series had been plagued with unnecessary drama, which she could no longer tolerate.

“I have no problem walking away from the franchise,” she said.

In the interview, the reality star admitted that she was contemplating leaving the series early on. Shaunie even talked to Bishop Kenneth Ulmer of Faithful Central Bible Church and asked for his advice.

“Do I walk away and love the ladies from the distance. I feel like there’s nothing else that I can do. At this point i can no longer defend it, I can no longer stand by it,” O’Neal said.